5 ways to rescue liberal talk radio (but it won’t be easy)

Just a few dozen stations now carry liberal talkers, as key affiliates in cities with active left-wing politics are falling like dominoes, going dark or switching formats. Detroit’s progressive outlet shut down in January, along with Seattle’s liberal talk station, which changed to sports. And after last year’s election, Portland’s progressive talk station ended its political programming.

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With the political battlegrounds of 2014 and 2016 on the horizon, reducing the whopping imbalance between conservative radio, with its huge fan base, and the left has become more important than ever, according to those in the progressive media world.

POLITICO spoke with a dozen radio talkers, media observers and industry insiders to get their take on how the troubled medium of progressive political talk can be saved — but it’s not going to be easy.

1. Don’t be a shill for the Democratic party

If progressive radio really wants to get on the map, its hosts would do well to remember that one of the reasons the liberal talk radio network Air America flopped was that they “forgot they were in the radio business, not in the get my candidate elected business,” said Al Peterson, publisher and editor of talk radio trade NTS MediaOnline Today.

“They failed because they failed to understand they were in the radio business — not the politics business,” he added.

SiriusXM’s Mark Thompson said, “We have an opportunity and a responsibility to even challenge our progressive leadership and our progressive politicians. That’s how our credibility, I think, overshadows what the right does.”

“It seems that the hosts who have tried to make it in the progressive arena have been so driven by a particular agenda first that they have forgotten the entertainment aspect,” said Radio Ink publisher Eric Rhoads. “For instance, I don’t think any of the conservative talk show hosts would be as successful as they are today if they didn’t put entertainment above and beyond whatever is their personal mission.”

Valerie Geller, a broadcast consultant, agreed, noting that “many of the shows that had the ‘liberal’ agenda were too ‘professorial’ and not fun. Fun and entertainment is important along with the information — this is an entertainment medium.”

2. Calling Jeff Bezos (or anyone with his kind of money)

Progressive radio could badly use some cash.

“At least as long as there are terrestrial talk stations, liberal or progressive business leaders have to buy stations and create a progressive network of stations that they own and control,” radio host Bill Press said. “Otherwise, progressive radio will always be at the mercy of right-wing owners, which they are today. Until progressives take ownership of stations and control them, they’ll never be on a level playing field.”

Liberal businesses and organizations need “to understand that this is a viable medium, that it’s an important medium,” said Bob Kincaid, whose online show “Head-On with Bob Kincaid” recently celebrated its eighth anniversary.

Of course, no one’s stepped up to the plate yet.

“I haven’t heard, for example, that Pierre Omidyar has any particular interest in talk radio,” said Peter B. Collins, who started a podcast after ending his syndicated show in 2009. “But we need some sort of a new effort, because right now, the shows … are all working with affiliate base with somewhere between 20-50 stations. They don’t have a national footprint. Just on a pure business basis, they’re not really viable long-term. And I say that with regret.”

3. Catch a rising star

Although there are a few established and popular nationally syndicated progressive talkers such as Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Bill Press and Ed Schultz currently on the airwaves, a brand new star is what’s needed to revitalize the troubled genre, experts said.

“It just seems to me that getting traction has been very difficult and I think that’s probably because the genre has no quote-unquote big star coming along,” said Peterson, of NTS MediaOnline Today.

And most industry observers say they haven’t zeroed in on any new name to champion as a potential progressive radio star, and note that commercial radio stations may no longer be the place to find up-and-coming talent for liberal talk. The radio hosts POLITICO spoke with pointed instead to the world of online talk as where to spot the next crop of progressive talkers.

“We don’t have that much of a farm team because all of these local stations have been acquired by giant corporations and they’ve laid off all the local talent, but the new farm team that’s coming up is people who are doing podcasts and stuff live on the internet,” said Hartmann, who hosts an afternoon radio show “The Thom Hartmann Program,” as well as a TV show, “The Big Picture,” that airs live at 7.m. EST on RT and Free Speech TV.